The present invention relates generally to board games and, in particular, to a chess-like game played on a smaller board without pawns.
Modern, Western chess appeared in Southern Europe sometime around the end of the 15th Century, and soon became popular throughout Europe. The game evolved somewhat as the powers of certain pieces were increased, and new rules were added such as castling, two-square pawn advance, and en passant. Other than these changes, the game has remained essentially the same for hundreds of years.
Traditional chess is elegant and difficult to improve. Nevertheless, many ideas have been proposed and implemented to make the game more difficult and easier to play. To make the game more challenging, larger boards and stacked, three-dimensional arrangements have been proposed.
To make the game easier or faster, smaller boards with fewer pieces and modified rules have been suggested. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,787, a chess-like game is- disclosed to simplify the teaching and playing of basic chess. The concept uses a game board with five vertical rows and six horizontal rows, and a reduced number of pieces. Each opponent""s set includes one each of a king, queen, bishop, knight and rook, plus five pawns. This lesser number of pieces are set up on the smaller game board such that they still incorporate many of the basic interrelationships and strategic aspects of conventional chess while permitting a more rapid and simpler game.